MADISON AVENUE
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
921 Madison Avenue
(at East 73rd Street)
New York, NY 10021
Tel: 212- 288-8920
Fax: 212-249-1466
(at East 73rd Street)
New York, NY 10021
Tel: 212- 288-8920
Fax: 212-249-1466
It is a David H.C. Read term--you won't find it in any theological dictionary that I know of--that refers to all sorts of concerns within the life of the congregation. As we head full-steam into the fall program and ministry, it seems a good time for me to share with you some of the things on my mind.
First, and foremost, it's good to be back in worship on Sunday mornings. Our summer was quite rich, and busy as well as restful, but it is so good to be back in worship with you. On October 20, I was invited back to preach the kick-off stewardship sermon for the season at the Pine Street Presbyterian Church in Harrisburg, PA, where I served as Pastor for fourteen years prior to being called to MAPC. Tom Wolf is wrong--you can go home again. It was good to be there, but even better to be back! The worship life at Pine Street is rich, but we are blessed here at MAPC with such extraordinary liturgical gifts and resources that I always miss it when we are not here.
It is also a joy to have Beverly Bartlett here. It is exciting to have a full staff in place. A word of special thanks to the members of the Associate Pastor Nominating Committee who labored long and hard to bring us J.C. Austin and Beverly Bartlett, as well as the search committee who brought us Dawn Ravella. The energy and excitement on staff is palpable. Lots of new things are on the drawing board as we head into the full program year. Beverly is quickly making her way into the routines and working hard at learning names and getting to know people. Please help her by introducing yourselves to her, and do so several times, as there are a lot of new faces and names to connect. And speaking of worship and introductions, let me encourage you to look about you in the sanctuary on Sunday mornings to see if there are people nearby whom you do not know. If so, please take a moment after the service to introduce yourself with words such as "I don't believe we know one another, how long have you been coming to MAPC?". Whether it is a 50-year member or a newcomer, your gracious introduction and welcome will become an important part of our evangelism ministry. Remember, the most effective means of evangelism is the members of the congregation being welcoming to newcomers, and, inviting friends to worship who do not have a church home.
We are back on WQXR (96.3 FM) on Sunday mornings at 8 am. We have this extraordinary time thanks to the hard work of Elder Jane Little, Chair of the Media and Publications Committee, who also produces the program. You will see Jane at the back of the sanctuary, monitoring and activating the CD recording system. Once the service is recorded, Jane spends several hours editing the service down to its broadcast format. One added benefit of the program is that we have begun to have regular visitors who have come to worship because they heard the radio program and have decided to accept my weekly invitation to worship with us. A special word of thanks to Jane for her hard and diligent work in this new ministry.
As we have thought about worship now that we are celebrating the Lord's Supper weekly, several concerns have emerged. We have been concerned that we introduce some other musical settings of the communion service. Consequently, I asked John Weaver to write a second service, in a slightly different musical idiom, which he did this summer. We will begin to introduce the music to you through organ interludes and other musical opportunities later this fall, in preparation for using it beginning in Advent, this year. In addition, one of you alerted us to the fact that with the liturgy being sung, there is no longer an opportunity to pray the Lord's Prayer in its traditional version. We are in the process of considering an order that would be spoken rather than sung, and used from time to time. We have received a great deal of affirmation and thanks for the use of the Taizé songs as a part of communion distribution, but also concern that the communion motets sung by the choir are missed. Though we used Taizé singing exclusively through the summer, now that the choir is back, we have returned to both a motet and a Taizé song. The full Taizé service continues to be held on the Third Wednesday evening of the month, in the sanctuary at 6 pm, with our monthly Healing and Wholeness service at the same hour on the first Wednesday evening of the month.
One very important ministry is our new Monday evening shelter program. We instituted the ministry this summer as a pilot project to determine whether we could sustain such a program throughout the year, and found that indeed we could. Consequently, Session, at its September meeting, approved the continuation of the program. Under the supervision of Dawn Ravella, and the very gifted leadership of new member Sheila McGarrigle, the ministry has quickly taken shape. One team of "ministers" gathers at 6 pm on Monday evenings to do about an hour's worth of preparatory work--fixing snacks, setting out bed linens, preparing coffee, setting up videos, etc.-- while a second team of two arrive at 7 pm, in time to receive our guests. Once the guests arrive (thirteen men who have been screened through the Neighborhood Coalition for Shelter), they quickly go to work making their beds and setting up for the evening. Wanting to see this first hand, I recently served as one of the volunteers for the evening, along with Julian Schroeder, who has quickly become an "old hand" at this. It was a remarkable evening, and yes, we both got a good night's sleep! The men were courteous, pleasant, and most grateful for a safe, clean, secure and welcoming place to spend the night. All of them had come from jobs and returned to them early the next morning. After enjoying a hearty snack of sandwiches, fruit and juice, some men went back to their beds to read, others watched a video, while others simply conversed. At 10 pm lights were out and all slept soundly until lights on at 6 am. The men quickly went about the business of stripping their beds, putting away linens, folding the sturdy roll-away beds and storing them in their appropriate places. After a light breakfast of cereal, juice and coffee, they were on there way. Jules and I had about fifteen minutes of follow-up work, and we were both on our way by 7 am. I went home and told Questa, "This is a ministry we can do together." And so we have told Dawn to sign us up about once every six weeks. I came away extraordinarily proud and grateful for the leadership of Dawn and Sheila, and for the many of you who have agreed to serve. If you have questions, feel free to talk with me, Dawn or Sheila. This is an important new ministry that can use the help of all of us.
There is more, but I'm running short on space. Let me simply thank all of you for your support and faithfulness as we head into this new program year. I hope you feel, as I do, the marvelous privilege of being a part of this wonderful congregation.
Grace, mercy and peace to you all, and until next time...
See you in church.
fra
The Congregational Nominating Committee has begun its work of considering people to nominate for offices of Elder, Deacon and Trustee for the classes of 2006.
As a part of its work, the committee always asks members of the congregation to suggest potential candidates. If you wish to suggest one or several people to the committee, please speak with its Chair, Elder Ruth Schroeder, or Vice Chair, Elder Fred MacEachron, or write a note to the committee, addressed to the church office. Your suggestion will be appreciated and taken seriously in the nomination process.
Please ensure that your suggestions are in the committee's hands no later than November 10.
The monthly Families with Young Children gathering will be held on Saturday, November 9, from 10:00am to noon. If you have children from infancy through age five, please join us on the Roof Garden at the church for a light breakfast, play and conversation. Please call Margaret Williamson at the church (212) 288-8920, ext. 271 and let us know if you will be joining us so we will have plenty of food.
It has been humbling, awesome and joyous to conclude my formal ministry here at MAPC as your Interim Associate Pastor. I feel so fortunate to have been able to share ministry with so many of you and to do so with my friend and deeply respected colleague Fred Anderson. JC is enormously gifted, as is Rosanna, and it has been wonderful to work with them. How exciting it is to see outreach stepping into the real needs in the community with Dawn's unrelenting direction. And now I pass the baton on to Beverly Bartlett, with absolute confidence in her grounded pastoral ministry and rich faith. You have a great team serving you and challenging you to be Christ's servants in the city.
Thank you for your many letters, gifts, well wishes and the fabulous retirement celebration. I pray that you and I will never leave the call to ministry and that our faith will always grow and nudge us forward to serve, while God gives us life. May God richly bless you.
— John Clinton Evans
Margaret Mills has appeared frequently in this series. Recognized as a leading exponent of the contemporary piano repertoire, she has many world premieres to her credit and an impressive record of acclaimed performances in major concert halls here and abroad. Her program will feature works by Gloria Coates, Charles Ives (Concord Sonata), William Bolcom, Elizabeth Lauer and Claude Bolling.
Wesley Roberts is Professor of Music at Campbellsville University in Kentucky. He has presented concerts as pianist and organist throughout the United States and in France, England, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the Czech Republic. Dr. Roberts' program will feature just one work, a composition by Tom Johnson called Organ and Silence. This will be its New York premiere. The very generous use of silence is the remarkable feature of this piece. Tom Johnson's largest work, the Bonfoeffer Oratorium, had its New York premiere in this series in 1999.
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